LIVE from the SUN Princess - 9 Mar 2024 - 10-Day Mediterranean - Second Voyage

[CanadianBurger]

I saw a comment somewhere about it being warm in the common areas. YES! Even the bartenders are complaining that they’re sweating because it’s so warm. I am happy to report, however, that the cabin cooling works well. I had it down to 19.6° at one point, before my wife complained!

[CanadianBurger]

Even the desserts in The Eatery are pistachio themed today. 
 

[CanadianBurger]

The Lean, or whatever it’s called, from The Eatery outdoor seating. 
 

[MTNest93]

5 minutes ago, CanadianBurger said:

I saw a comment somewhere about it being warm in the common areas. YES! Even the bartenders are complaining that they’re sweating because it’s so warm. I am happy to report, however, that the cabin cooling works well. I had it down to 19.6° at one point, before my wife complained!

Yikes, hope they get that figured out before we sail on her in the Caribbean!  I feel bad for the bartenders, they work so hard.  

[CanadianBurger]

Okay, people, please start a separate thread about suites if you want to continue discussing it. 

[CanadianBurger]

Wandered around both levels of Horizons today. The far aft area is the only place on the ship where you can feel side-to-side motion, enough so that even today my wife wouldn’t be able to sit back there. It’s glass-smooth everywhere else. Also found the chef’s table on 7. 
 

 

 

 

 

[chamima]

16 minutes ago, CanadianBurger said:

Wandered around both levels of Horizons today. The far aft area is the only place on the ship where you can feel side-to-side motion, enough so that even today my wife wouldn’t be able to sit back there. It’s glass-smooth everywhere else. Also found the chef’s table on 7. 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thanks (once again) for the beautiful photos!

It's too bad about the motion on deck 6 in the aft because the views would be spectacular.

[CatMom72]

23 minutes ago, chamima said:

 

 

Thanks (once again) for the beautiful photos!

It's too bad about the motion on deck 6 in the aft because the views would be spectacular.

I don’t remember rough seas at all in the Med.  However, it may be because I have only been there during the summer months.  Is this typical for the time of year?

[RMorningglory]

1 hour ago, CanadianBurger said:

Just happened to venture up to check out the wake view from up high. What a beautiful day. 
 

 

While I was up there, I got a better shot of the signature lounge. Alas, my medallion didn’t work on the door. 
 

Where did you take the Wake picture from? Looks like Deck 16 below Love by Brito? If so, What is directly above that spot? I saw outdoor chairs that I thought were on Deck 17 Aft but wasn't sure you could access them? We are on 17 Aft and that looked like a great spot to hide. Any clarification is Soooo Appreciated!!!  You are doing an AWESOME JOB man! Only 130 more posts to 1000!

[chamima]

@CanadianBurger - someone on another thread asked about where better wines (and the better glasses they are served in) might be found on the Sun since there's no Vines.

Have you come across any venues that would fit that description?

[555]

2 hours ago, CanadianBurger said:

I don’t think the self-serve is, but International Cafe is 24h. 

Yes, but do they serve free regular coffee there 24/7.

The other ships we've been on do not.

[EDDY0827]

10 minutes ago, 555 said:

Yes, but do they serve free regular coffee there 24/7.

Room service- 24/7.

[New2cruise2022]

@CanadianBurger Great photos! Thank you for taking time to share. I noticed in video of that changing rooms at the fitness center that they have lockers. It looks like you can lock and unlock them with the Medallion. Do you happen to know if that is the case? 
 

No worries if not. Just curious and enjoying your trip!

[cr2000]

1 hour ago, CanadianBurger said:

Wandered around both levels of Horizons today. The far aft area is the only place on the ship where you can feel side-to-side motion, enough so that even today my wife wouldn’t be able to sit back there. It’s glass-smooth everywhere else. Also found the chef’s table on 7. 
 

 

 

 

 

I wonder if that side to side motion is also prominent in aft rooms and suites? Would seem if you can feel it pronounced on lower decks it’ll be worse up in rooms above?

 

Also, based on the pictures, I’d argue

that the main dining room has far a nicer atmosphere than the reserve or signature restaurants. Is that just pictures or does it seem that way in person as well?

[cr2000]

Haven’t seen many pictures of kids on the ship seems like a mostly older crowd. Any sense how much that may change as it moves into the summer season?

[CanadianBurger]

51 minutes ago, chamima said:

@CanadianBurger - someone on another thread asked about where better wines (and the better glasses they are served in) might be found on the Sun since there's no Vines.

Have you come across any venues that would fit that description?

I think I answered previously that the dining room was the best place, according to the sommelier in the Reserve dining room. 

[CanadianBurger]

1 hour ago, CatMom72 said:

I don’t remember rough seas at all in the Med.  However, it may be because I have only been there during the summer months.  Is this typical for the time of year?

It’s not rough seas. This one spot which is as far aft as you can go, has motion. I don’t notice it anywhere else. 

[CanadianBurger]

1 hour ago, RMorningglory said:

Where did you take the Wake picture from? Looks like Deck 16 below Love by Brito? If so, What is directly above that spot? I saw outdoor chairs that I thought were on Deck 17 Aft but wasn't sure you could access them?

Scroll up a few pages and you’ll see pics of the aft deck areas by the stairs (where I took this pic) and the areas to either side of Love. 

[catgirl411]

So thankful that you have provided this very balanced view of your experience on Sun Princess. We recently booked for a Caribbean cruise next February. We are experienced cruisers but this is the first cruise for some of our family group which includes our 13 year old granddaughter and 15 year old grandson. Have you seen many teenagers onboard and are they allowed in Princess Live for trivia etc?  The other thing they will love is Umai for teppanaki. I can’t recall if you tried that.

[CanadianBurger]

28 minutes ago, catgirl411 said:

So thankful that you have provided this very balanced view of your experience on Sun Princess. We recently booked for a Caribbean cruise next February. We are experienced cruisers but this is the first cruise for some of our family group which includes our 13 year old granddaughter and 15 year old grandson. Have you seen many teenagers onboard and are they allowed in Princess Live for trivia etc?  The other thing they will love is Umai for teppanaki. I can’t recall if you tried that.

We did not, but I talked to people today that did both the teppanaki and the hot pot, and absolutely loved them both. 
 

They also have teenagers. The 15yo is absolutely loving it and has made friends with the others, but the 17yo has kept mostly to himself. Depends on the kid I guess. Not sure how many there are, but I’d guess <25, just from how few I’ve seen. Itinerary, time of year, and cruise length have a huge impact on the number of kids, so I wouldn’t go by this for your cruise at all. 
 

One thing I should mention. They booked four in a cabin, and the cabin was marked as sleeping four. But they didn’t have a pull-out sofa in the room. Even the room steward couldn’t figure out what was going on. They went to guest services, and they gave them an additional inside cabin for the teens. So if you’re booking multiple people in a room, double and triple check with Princess if in fact the sofa pulls out into a bed. Maybe they’ll figure it out and update things after a few cruises. 

[CruzeQueen2]

@CanadianBurger Question about the DORO - Claudio Giuliani. When I met him on the Royal Princess in 2022 (sailed twice with him that year), he was everywhere, all the time, all at once. I had a few issues that he assisted me with in the most professional manner.

All of the restaurants on that ship at that time benefited greatly from his style of leadership. I notice that his name was on the roster for your ship and wonder if you have seen him around - doing more of the same. 

TIA for your observations on this one. 

Edited March 17 by CruzeQueen2
grammatical correction

[ceilidh1]

40 minutes ago, catgirl411 said:

So thankful that you have provided this very balanced view of your experience on Sun Princess. We recently booked for a Caribbean cruise next February. We are experienced cruisers but this is the first cruise for some of our family group which includes our 13 year old granddaughter and 15 year old grandson. Have you seen many teenagers onboard and are they allowed in Princess Live for trivia etc?  The other thing they will love is Umai for teppanaki. I can’t recall if you tried that.

My friends board on the 19th with 3 almost 17 year olds (one of which is mine). I'm sure I will get all the dirt on the happenings for teens! I'll update as I hear!

[Hollyann]

For those arriving early in Athens you may wish to read… FYI - we arrive in Athens on May 1 - which was scheduled to be their "Labor day" and we were aware that some sites may be closed for their holiday. (We were fine with it as we figured we would be exhausted from travel.) We had a tour booked with Georges Taxi on Friday, May 3 and were planning on buying tickets to the Acropolis on April 1 for the tour when the tickets were supposed to go on sale. We received the following email from George's Taxi yesterday and thought I'd share for those that are arriving early:

 

"We hope all is well. We got informed that the government made and might make some changes at the days and times the sites will be open during the days of Greek orthodox Easter.

It has moved the Labor day (1 May 2024) to be holiday on 7 May 2024. Also the Great Friday and Great Saturday (3 May and 4 May 2024) the sites may not be open at their full schedule (might open a little later and close a little earlier).

That is something that is not yet confirmed and we will know around mid April. Until then do not buy in advance tickets as we might need to change pick up time and we will communicate again at mid April that we will know better. ( Last year they did not change the schedules of the sites, we hope they will not change it this year but as you understand that is something out of our control).

 

I thought that may affect some plans so I would pass it along. All I know is what you see above.

 

**NOTE: If you google when Labor Day in Athens Greece is, it DOES still show it as May 1. However, since George’s Taxi is in Greece, I think they would have more up-to-date info. They are very highly rated on Cruise Critic and TripAdvisor which is why we booked with them.

I posted this on a May 4^th Facebook group that I belong to yesterday and one person said that her Friday tour was already changed from a 9:00 am to a 12:00 start.  A couple of people who have Viator tickets said that they had not heard anything about their tours being changed yet.

 

We were fortunate that I could move our tour with Georges Taxi to Thursday so that we can still have a full day tour.  (We had already booked tickets for Thursday afternoon to the Acropolis Museum a few weeks ago that fit nicely in with George's Best of Athens tour)

 

Just thought everyone may want to have a heads up. On the bright side, assuming the email is correct, it looks like everything should now be open on May 1 – the original Labor Day date and now we may be able to join in the celebration for Greek orthodox Easter. I have fond memories of going to the festival with my grandmother when I lived in Florida.

[catgirl411]

20 minutes ago, CanadianBurger said:

We did not, but I talked to people today that did both the teppanaki and the hot pot, and absolutely loved them both. 
 

They also have teenagers. The 15yo is absolutely loving it and has made friends with the others, but the 17yo has kept mostly to himself. Depends on the kid I guess. Not sure how many there are, but I’d guess <25, just from how few I’ve seen. Itinerary, time of year, and cruise length have a huge impact on the number of kids, so I wouldn’t go by this for your cruise at all. 
 

One thing I should mention. They booked four in a cabin, and the cabin was marked as sleeping four. But they didn’t have a pull-out sofa in the room. Even the room steward couldn’t figure out what was going on. They went to guest services, and they gave them an additional inside cabin for the teens. So if you’re booking multiple people in a room, double and triple check with Princess if in fact the sofa pulls out into a bed. Maybe they’ll figure it out and update things after a few cruises. 

Thanks! Good to know about the rooms…after some debate we decided that they would book two Oceanview cabins and our adult stepdaughter booked an interior. DH and I have a balcony. They are doing 7 days and we are doing B2B so that we can enjoy whatever doesn’t work for them in our second week.

[Shorty52]

Firstly, would like to thank you for all of your postings.   How many “elegant” nights are there?  Also, are many people getting fancy?   DH trying to decide if he should bring a suit.   The last few celebrity cruises, we noticed more gentlemen not wearing suits and ties.   Thank you!